Chill in the air as Arctic nations meet

Arctic nations warned Friday of the dangers facing the environment and the peoples of one of the planet's most remote regions, which because of climate change is becoming a new hotspot in tensions with Russia.

The Arctic is warming twice as fast as everywhere else on the globe and US officials last month said the Arctic sea ice had reached its lowest winter point since satellite observations began in the late 1970s.

While the polar melt is of major concern because of rising sea levels, it is also opening up new ocean trade routes, and offering the tantalizing promise of untapped offshore oil and gas fields in an energy-hungry world.

"The retreat of sea ice in the region brings with it a lot of opportunities," US Secretary of State John Kerry told ministers as the United States took over from Canada as the chairman of the Arctic Council.

"But it's imperative that the development we pursue is sensitive to the history and lifestyle that people want to hold on to, and that it is sustainable."

He was meeting in the small northeastern Canadian town of Iqaluit, on Baffin Island, with other ministers from Canada, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Russia and Sweden.

The town, which grew up around a World War II US air base, now boasts a population of about 7,500, with more residents flocking to the remote region, drawn by work in iron ore and diamond mines, despite temperatures which can fall as low as -65 degrees Celsius (-85 F) in winter.

The US is putting forward a framework action plan to rein in methane gas emissions and black carbon -- or soot -- created through such activities as gas flaring or oil exploration.

It would mark the first time that the Arctic Council has reached an accord to work together to mitigate the effects of climate change through regional action.

A framework accord on working to reduce black soot and methane "sends a hugely important message that climate change mitigation can be organized regionally as well as globally," said Alaskan fisherman Michael Stickman, chairman of the Arctic Athabaskan Council (AAC).

- Russia tensions -

There are underlying tensions though, as Russia, under global sanctions due to its role in the conflict in Ukraine, begins to flex its muscles in the region.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov did not attend the meeting, with Moscow sending environment minister Sergei Donskoi instead.

Lavrov's absence was regretted by Stickman, who said the Arctic should be shielded from international tensions.

"No matter what is happening in the outside world, cooperation in the Arctic is moving forward," Donskoi insisted.

"There is no room here for confrontation or fear-mongering," he said, adding Russia was "against politicizing the Arctic."

Earlier this month, Russian ships docked at what was once a secret Norwegian naval base in the Arctic, prompting concern.

And last weekend, Norway was angered when Russia's deputy prime minister visited its Arctic Svalbard archipelago, even though he is banned from Norwegian territory under EU sanctions imposed due to the Ukraine crisis.

- Untapped wealth -

According to a 2008 study by the US Geological Survey, the Arctic may hold 13 percent of the planet's undiscovered oil and 30 percent of the world's natural gas.

Prime Minister Kaj Leo Johannesen of the Faroe Islands said: "Our job as governments is to strike a balance between the biological limits of nature, our rights and duties to use our natural resources, and the need to promote economical growth and development."

Arctic nations also had a duty to "develop better solutions for better and cleaner energy for remote communities."

While tackling climate change will be high on the US agenda as chair of the Arctic Council, Washington also hopes to improve ocean stewardship, maritime safety and the lives of the Arctic's four million inhabitants.

Melting ice raises sea levels, while the thawing of the Arctic permafrost unleashes trapped carbon dioxide, one of the greenhouse gases blamed for global warming.

Nations are gearing up for major UN talks in Paris in December to agree a new international pact pegging global warming to 2C over pre-industrial levels.

The melting ice also creates shorter shipping routes between the Pacific and the Atlantic -- connecting markets in Europe and Asia, with the numbers of ships crossing the Bering Strait on the rise.